Cats groomed each other and licked frontline plus off

ewells1014

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I've been lax with using Frontline Plus and as a result, my two kitties got fleas. I gave them both one Capstar tablet then applied one pipette each of Frontline plus to their necks/shoulder blades. They groom each other and I'm pretty sure my female licked a bunch of the medicine off of my male cat's neck. ( because of the flea problem, I treated them and left them outside overnight. They are both indoor/outdoor cats, so this isn't a problem.) When I went to let them in the next morning, I noticed a giant black hairball on one of the patio chairs. I assume this is from my female cat because they really cannot Reach where I applied the medicine on their own bodies. I'm guessing she licked his off while she was grooming him, and then threw it up. It's been about 48 hours now, and they're both perfectly fine. I'm just wondering if I need to reapply the medication. I haven't seen any flea activity on her (she's white/gray so it's easier to see the fleas on her) but we do have a few in the house because they've been biting me. I want to be sure that there's enough medication in their systems to kill any fleas that they pick up in the house if and when the fleas bite them. Please note--were by no means infested in the house, so it's not as if I walk in and see them hopping around or anything, but I did kill one on my sons comforter the other day (our male likes to sleep on my sons bed). Would it be bad to split one pipette between the two cats to err on the side of caution, or should I take a wait and see approach? Like I said, we do not have an infestation in the house, and id like to keep it that way! [emoji]128528[/emoji]
 
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siamiam2

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I don't think splitting one is a good idea. But I'm no expert. Is half enough? I have a similar problem. Bought Servants and the 3rd dose she was liking at within an hour. Since this time of year is mostly inside I took a lackadaisical a0proach to what she did. I think it still works if ingested. From the inside? The ACV thing is a farce. Tried it and the fleas were still there. Stuffs great for urinary tract stuff though. It does her kidneys good. I don't truly know if it matters, as I said, if they lick it. In your case one cat has more on it then than the other? Unless you see vermin on either I'd assume all is well and wait the month for another dose. I didn't trust the one spot and this third dose isn't working as well as the other two but I don't have a clue why if she's mostly inside with very little time outside at all. I cleaned the entire place so there's nothing left anywhere. The only thing I can figure is they're being planted on her by other forces.
 

catpack

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I also do not suggest applying any more meds at this time. You certainly don't want to risk overdosing. I would call your vet (or the manufacture) and find out when you can safely reapply.

Until then, wash pet bedding,blankets, etc and vacuum.
 

siamiam2

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About mfg? I called Hafta about the spray stuff and ya know what the guy told me? If you see one on her spray it. What??? That stuff doesn't work at all. A 7 buck waste, sorta. Except if you count spraying it on a q tip and cleaning her ears. Servants help line seemed a bit more viable and I think Front line and Servants is the same. I don't like any vermin on my cat and I'm sure you both don't either. I don't know if its true but I feel that cat health is affected if fleas and ticks aren't kept off. I'm particularly fickle about the stomach.
 

linda carella

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my cat and dog has fleas do to my indoor out door cat. does any one know if capstar works. they are all on frontline. i have used sprays also.but really does not work that well.
 

catpack

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CapStar works; but, it only kills the adult fleas that are present on the animal for up to 24 hours. It does not treat all life cycles of the flea. CapStar works well if you give it first and then apply a topical (or use an oral) flea medication the following day.

Frontline and the like seem not to be working well for most people. The theory is that the fleas have developed an immunity to it.

I have had luck with Advantage II, Revolution and Comfortis. (I would expect similar results with Advantage Multi.)
 

miannorvy

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My cats are indoor only but somehow managed to get fleas. More than likely because for the first time in a few years I let the windows be open this fall and let them lay in them and they came through them or as the vet said they were brought in on others clothing. Anyway, I spent a lot of time cleaning , laundry, vacuming carpets w/ D Earth and I treated my babies with Frontline but like yours they licked each other off and after 2 days I was still seeing some live activitie. So I called the vet and got Trifexis Its actually for dogs but that's what they gave me. It starts killing fles and egs within1/2 hour and 100% of adult are usually dead within 4 hours. It also kills hookworm, whipworm, roundworms and heartworm. It was $17 per cat but I wanted these fleas out and never to come back. I spent every night for a week just in case putting my cats on the counter with a snack while I had a Dawn Dish water drawn in front of me and I flea combed them using it. I just wanted to make sure there were no more left before I stopped magorly cleaning daily too.  LOL
 

siamiam2

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I still say that stuff for dogs is unsafe for cats. MiaNnorvy says her cats were fine but I think they're an exception. Products with popular names don't always work better and this is an exact science. Vermin free is our goal. They live in 60 degrees and hotter and I live in a region where the temp stays that and above til Nov. or Dec. which means indoor or outdoor the chance they're there is higher. Immune to products after a while is also the risk. Off works on mosquitoes regardless of region. Why can't they make something like that for cats?
 

miannorvy

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I live in rural Il and we can barely find something safe for humans.  I did go to the vet and each of my cats were weighed for what they got. I did not give it without vet advice. Just incase that wasn't clear.  :)
 

siamiam2

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What's rural il??lol. The flotus comes from your state but she's from Chicago. I didn't even know there was a rural part of your state. I wonder what the pop. is back in my home state on the east coast. I live south of you and have no clue if the locals have such problems but they all seem to have dogs.
 

miannorvy

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The little town I live in now has 3,300 in it in west central IL. Rural means country. The town I grew up in was pop. of 100.   LOL    yep there is are a lot of places in IL other than Chicago.  :)
 

miannorvy

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Plus humidity here gets near 100% at times with temps at 100 or higher. I run my air from April through October.
 

siamiam2

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MiaNnorny..really? Back home humidity is the same as it is herre. Round abouts. I think part of the vermin problem is humidity. I won't let Annabel go out when its too hot or too humid. It was much hotter this past summer than any before it when you factor in humidity. She stayed in all of July or Aug. which then makes it more puzzling that they're still appearing on her and dropping little black dots I pick off her. It gets creepy and annoying that they won't go away. Shockingly, of the apt. pop. of cats? There were two that were out there on the hottest humidist of days and they fought with each other under our window.
 

miannorvy

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Sorry jcat!  Yes siamiam2 I believe the more humidity the more we tend to have a bad flea population that year. My upstairs neighbor is moving out of her apartment so I just talked to my manager or apartment yesterday and she said that they would clean it as soon as she got out so I could keep my windows open if I wanted without having fleas, if there were any, coming in from bushes or lawn.
 

siamiam2

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I wish I knew if other tenants with cats have a vexing problem but I'd say not sincethey use the most expensive regardless of cost and seem to pull money out of nowhere even though not well off.
 

mtgal

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I am hardly an expert on cats and flea meds but I will share what my vet told me. To be clear: my vet also teaches at a top ranked vet school (Tufts) and has been involved in research for a number of years. He prefers Frontline for both cats and dogs because, unlike Advantage, years of testing support the safety of the active ingredients, fipronil and s-methoprene).  even for sensitive cats. My indoor cats don't get treated, but my dogs do. I also treat our barn cats when I can catch them. (Some are feral) Last summer we had a horrid time with ticks and fleas with the outdoor cats. My vet told us that it was safe to double treat the cats with Frontline -- one pipette twice a month. Apparently, research shows that even if a cat were to eat the contents of a pipette it would not harm the animal. I can say that we've been using the generic version for about five years and have never experienced any problems. My hyper-sensitive tiny indoor cat (6lb full grown) loves to snuggle with my Pit Bull and this used to worry me after I put Frontline on the dog. But the cat has never reacted and my vet told me not to worry. 
 

siamiam2

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MTGAL? Im still wondering about storage. You say Tufts is... lots of students go there for many things, not my point. You didn't mention storage. My 2 year old (and4 mo at the time-Sept) licked her back after I put the third dose on her. It'd been in the kitchen cabinet near the stove (never used, just the burners) since about May. I don't know if her licking it off changed anything but she's out a lot less and they come outta nowhere. Litter box clean rug clean bed clean etc. Nothing could be on or in anything. Is it possible the third pipette was less eeffetive for the little time outside that we go together? I'm leaning towards a G-d source if it's nothing man made or nature otherwise created.
 

siamiam2

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I will not scare monger here but? Nobody thinkthinks about it but the black plague is spread by fleas. Those of us who live in areas where prairie dogs are? It's a stretch to think the plague would be in fleas everywhere then but I read that prairie dogs can carry it and the plague hasn't been eradicated. There were cases of it in this country this year. Again, im not trying to scare anyone but I think personally my discomfort of any on my little girl stems from a fear she could get it or any other disease the vermin could spread. I don't think cats can get the plague but I don't know.
 

mtgal

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MTGAL? Im still wondering about storage. You say Tufts is... lots of students go there for many things, not my point. You didn't mention storage. My 2 year old (and4 mo at the time-Sept) licked her back after I put the third dose on her. It'd been in the kitchen cabinet near the stove (never used, just the burners) since about May. I don't know if her licking it off changed anything but she's out a lot less and they come outta nowhere. Litter box clean rug clean bed clean etc. Nothing could be on or in anything. Is it possible the third pipette was less eeffetive for the little time outside that we go together? I'm leaning towards a G-d source if it's nothing man made or nature otherwise created.
I try to keep all medications in a dark, cool spot because this helps them retain their strength. However, I doubt if having the pipette near your stove for just a few months would cause it to loose significant potency. What we've seen over the past couple of years is a decrease in overall effectiveness of Frontline  on our dogs. We have a serious tick problem in my area and I have switched from the topical to the spray for the dogs. In the early season, I put the topical on, wait a week and use the spray. Later in the season, I use just spray. But even this has proved less effective against ticks. You cannot use the spray on cats. I suspect (but may be way off) that any product -- natural or man made -- can lose effectiveness against pests over time. I'm not sure if the pests adjust to the toxin or what, but I've just seen a fairly dramatic increase in the tick population even using Frontline and/or other products. Thankfully, we don't have much problem with fleas and have never (knock on wood!) had an issue in the house. The indoor cats don't go outside, but of-course, the dogs do and the cats often sleep with our dogs. If Frontline isn't working for your flea problems, perhaps your vet has a better product for your area. I do know that if you have fleas indoors, they can be very difficult to kill off completely. This is how an exterminator explained it to me: your pet comes in carrying fleas and/or flea eggs. You notice the fleas and apply appropriate measures. This kills off the fleas, but not the eggs. The flea eggs may not be on the animal any longer, but are now in fabric or any soft surface. They then hatch, lay new eggs and the process keeps repeating. This is why sometimes after people think the fleas are gone, they then reappear weeks later. Incidentally, from what I've been told, just because your house is clean and you keep up with general upkeep, doesn't have much to do with the flea infestation. Of-course, the cleaner, the better and all that, but even with cleaning, you won't find the eggs. 
 
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